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Blackhouse

Industrial
Eureka, California, USA

Blackhouse is a Christian industrial band based in Eureka, California. Blackhouse plays what has been cited as “primo industrial rock,” contrasting with industrial rock styles promulgated by artists such as NIN, Klank, or Circle of Dust. Blackhouse was formed in 1984 and is cited as the first band to make industrial music for the Christian market.

Musically acclaimed and sometimes cited as being a founding band of the entire genre, Blackhouse has ensued for over three decades, and the band has produced a myriad of releases in that time. Often the band finds itself riding the fine line between artistic expression and forming a message in a way that could be accepted in the broad Christian community. One album featured a cover showing a bunny crucified, with the thought of exposing the real meaning of Easter.

The sound that Blackhouse offered was far outside the norms of Christian music at the time of the band's formation, and live performances met with resistance from both the Christian right and Neo-Nazi youth organizations. The Neo-Nazi groups protested the religious content, which was unusual in a genre more known for espousing negative themes including nihilism, pornography, sadomasochism, and drug culture, and the Christians took point with the style that the band offered, again due to its association with negative elements of society. After a time the band went underground, focusing on producing recorded material rather than touring.

Their music continues to be on the cutting edge of creativity and experimental, avant-garde music. One review of their 2006 collaborative project Beetu Lathri Kwan found that their genre-mixing produced what was deemed an “intentional dissolution of traditional concepts of… music.” The music's effect on the reviewers has shown a great variety of responses. One reviewer reported that the sound finds the “border of our conscious and unconscious thinking,” while others have insisted that the sound is “barely good for background noise” or “more frustrating than enjoyable.” Lyrics are generally noted as being few and far between, but containing positive messages and espousing Christian faith.

Discography

1984 Pro-Life Ladd-Frith
1985 Hope Like a Candle Ladd-Frith
1986 Five Minutes After I Die Ladd-Frith
1987 Holy War RRRecords
1988 We Will Fight Back! Staalplaat
1989 Stairway to Heaven Ladd-Frith
1990 The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost Ladd-Frith
1990 Material World Ladd-Frith
1991 The Gospel According to the Men in Black (split) Minus Habens Records
1991 Hidden Beneath the Metal Ladd-Frith
1994 Stairway to a Gospel Word Discordia
1995 Shock the Nation! Discordia
1998 Shades of Black Blacklight Records
1998 Lawnmowerman NoWhere Arts
1999 Sex Sex Sex Dark Vinyl Records
2000 Dreams Like These Blacklight Records
2002 Heart of Black Ladd-Frith
2002 Vox Ultra Ladd-Frith
2005 Dribbles Ladd-Frith
2012 Beyond the Gates of Good & Evil Ladd-Frith
2014 Rhythm Boxing 2 / Special Edition Ladd-Frith
2015 Yuen Ultra-Mail Productions
2016 Live in Leipzig Dark Vinyl Records
2016 Ignite Blackhouse Youth No Emb Blanc

Pro-Life

1984 Ladd-Frith
1984 Le Syndicat
1992 Minus Habens Records
1997 Metal Field ‎/ Ladd-Frith
2014 Steinklang Industries

Sterling Cross
Ivo Cutler
Roger Farrell

  1. Born Again
  2. Love
  3. Jesus Loves You
  4. Always By Your Side
  5. Long Live Life ….into…. The One Truth
  6. Pro-Life
  7. Power of the Lion
  8. Go (Positive Path)
  9. Prayer
  10. Apparition ….into…. Abolition of Strife
  11. Be Good
1997 CD Reissue
  1. Anti-Hell
  2. Punk Rock's Come!
  3. March of the Molten Soldiers
  4. I'm the Guy (Version 1.0)
  5. Skull Splitter
  6. Walk on Water
  7. One Thing
  8. Blackhouse
  9. Feed Me
  10. Worldly
  11. Wheels of Steel
  12. Lonesome Love

Side 1 (track 1-6): No Rhythm
Side 2 (tracks 7-11): Pro-Rhythm
Bonus tracks: Not Available


Hope Like a Candle

1985 Ladd-Frith
1992 Dark Vinyl Records (DV #12)

Sterling Cross
Ivo Cutler

  1. Hope Like a Candle
  2. #11
  3. What Do You Know About Me?
  4. Roger Wasn't…..
  5. Let Me Count the Ways
  6. Rhythmus
  7. Mercy Seat
  8. The 2 Classes of People
  9. Judgement
  10. Sentence
  11. Blackhouse
  12. Countdown
Hope...

1985 RRRecords (RRR 777)

  1. Hope Like a Candle (1:57)
  2. #11 (2:34)
  3. What Do You Know About Me? (1:45)
  4. Roger Wasn't… (5:24)
  5. Let Me Count the Ways (4:23)
  6. Rhythmus (3:19)
  7. Mercy Seat (1:50)
  8. The 2 Classes of People (2:23)
  9. Be Good (5:32)
  10. Pro-Life (2:58)
  11. Long Live Life (3:50)
  12. 30 Seconds to Infinity (0:30)

“When RRRecords asked me to do an album I said SURE! Why not? RRR wanted an album that was mostly Hope Like a Candle with a few cuts from Pro-Life. I called it Hope…. Nowadays, I never would allow such a thing. After all, I am a purist. To me, each album is an entity to itself… a representation of my moods based within a certain time frame. That's OK…. It's the way I operate, but looking back, the hybrid was viable as well. After all, I did both albums in the year 1984 so they are connected in some strange, magnificent way. Still, I had some fun with it: I wanted the final cut to be a lock groove of the very first recording I made as Blackhouse: The Blackhouse Hum.

The Blackhouse hum was simply a split stereo recording of the sounds of my apartment's refrigerator in one channel and the sounds of my apartment's gas heater in the other. Simple - eh? Told ya so. But… it's a nice hum. I've used that hum in just about every Blackhouse album and CD I have ever produced. It's a beautiful hum, this Blackhouse Hum. The original LP of Hope… used the Blackhouse Hum for the final cut. That cut was called “30 Seconds to Infinity.” You see, the track lasted exactly thirty seconds before it hit the lock groove. If you had an automatic turntable, the cut lasted thirty seconds until the needle/arm of the record player hit the lock groove, then it would end as the automatic arm lifted off the groove and the album ended. BUT…. if you had a manual turntable, the track would go for thirty seconds, hit the lock groove…. and then play FOREVER until you removed the turntable arm. Many people could not experience the lock groove because they had an automatic turntable. That's a shame because the lock groove HUM is rather hypnotic after a while.”


Five Minutes After I Die

1986 Ladd-Frith
1986 Cause and Effect
1989 Geschmack Records (SC-002)
1993 Dark Vinyl Records (DVLR 1)
1993 Blackhouse Music (BHCD5)

Ivo Cutler
Sterling Cross

  1. Five Minutes After I Die
  2. His Zion
  3. Halo Hearth
  4. Answer for You
  5. A Thousand Tongues
  6. Numerology
  7. Five Minutes After I Die (Reprise)

Holy War

1987 Ladd-Frith
1987 RRRecords (RRR 017)
1993 Daft Records (D1004)
2012 Klanggalerie (gg154)

Ivo Cutler
Sterling Cross

  1. Make a Choice (4:31)
  2. The Fight (4:22)
  3. Whispers of Love (3:35)
  4. Satan + His Demons (4:22)
  5. Rhythmus II (3:21)
  6. Remember Who Took the Fall (3:09)
  7. Power + Wisdom (5:34)
  8. Repent (5:24)
  9. Holy War (5:59)
2012 re-issue track order
  1. Make a Choice (4:35)
  2. Satan + His Demons (4:24)
  3. Whispers of Love (3:35)
  4. The Fight (5:29)
  5. Rhythmus II (5:40)
  6. Remember Who Took the Fall (3:16)
  7. Power + Wisdom (5:34)
  8. Repent (5:19)
  9. Holy War (6:30)

“This album wasn't released… it escaped. It's not subtle. It's 200% full on from the get-go. There's absolutely no post-production. No added effects. It's just the 4-track master. Some of the songs even have the multiple tape clicks from when I engaged the recording head on the tape. You hear all those clicks from the original performance…. popping in with feedback and echo. These segments join the tracks together. Essentially, it's a perfect clone of the master. It's exactly what I thought of and did at that time, including the original “correct” order of the songs as they were recorded on the master tape. And it blasts. It's loud. Real loud. So loud, it's disorienting. I have no idea how it got to be so loud. I mean, I knew it would be loud, but…. Maybe it needs to come with some kind of warning sticker about losing your hearing, being disoriented or wreckin' your speakers. You have been warned!”


We Will Fight Back!

1988 Staalplaat (SP 002)
1990 Ladd-Frith
1993 Discordia (DISC 006)
2009 Klanggalerie (gg133)

Ivo Cutler - Samples, rhythms, vocals, noise
Sterling Cross - Samples, rhythms, vocals, noise

Mr. Brian Ladd - Guest guitar on “Rock Rock,” “Granite Grind,” and “Rock 4 God”
Ms. Julie Frith - Guest bass on “Rock 4 God” and guest violin on “From Deep Within the Crust”

  1. Rock Rock (3:14)
  2. Granite Grind (3:53)
  3. Totally Gone (3:20)
  4. Rhythmus III (3:22)
  5. Voices of Angels (2:51)
  6. We Will Fight Back! (4:31)
  7. Rock 4 God (2:49)
  8. More Than You & Me (4:11)
  9. Steamroller (4:20)
  10. W.B. (3:31)
  11. From Deep Within the Crust (7:15)
2009 re-issue song order
  1. Rock Rock (3:15)
  2. Granite Grind (3:56)
  3. Totally Gone (3:52)
  4. Rhythmus III (3:22)
  5. Voices of Angels (2:52)
  6. Ground (2:18)
  7. We Will Fight Back! (4:13)
  8. Stairway to Heaven (5:31)
  9. Rock 4 God (3:13)
  10. More Than You & Me (4:20)
  11. Steamroller (4:19)
  12. W.B. (4:00)
  13. Nightmare Vision (6:16)
  14. From Deep Within the Crust (7:21)

“I recorded the original sessions for WE WILL FIGHT BACK! in 1988. Due to time constraints, some songs had to be dropped from the LP version. Now….21 years later, my original ideas are finally being presented the way they were intended to be heard. I present the NEW version of WE WILL FIGHT BACK!, which is in fact…. the ORIGINAL version of WE WILL FIGHT BACK! I hope you enjoy it.”


Stairway to Heaven

1989 Ladd-Frith (LF 61)

Music by Blackhouse

  1. Nightmare Vision
  2. Ground
  3. Stairway to Heaven (deluxe dub mix)
  4. Heaven's Stairway (bonus reverse edit)
  5. Ground Zero (bonus reverse edit)
  6. Vision (bonus reverse edit)

Tracks 1-3 listed under “Side 7.” Tracks 4-6 listed under “Side 77,” and are sometimes listed as one track called “Bonus Reverse Edit.”


The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost

1990 Ladd-Frith
1991 Body Records (BR 7010)
1999 Ladd-Frith

Ivo Cutler
Sterling Cross

  1. Bond (5:14)
  2. Violins on Television (5:56)
  3. Men in Black (8:49)
  4. Golden Ghost (8:09)
  5. Anti-Lavey (8:12)
  6. Procession (3:39)
  7. The Holy Ghost (28:45)

Tracks 1-3 listed under “The Father,” Tracks 4-6 listed under “The Son,” and track listed under “The Holy Ghost.”


Material World

1990 Ladd-Frith (LF72)
2017 Steinklang Industries (SK99)

Ivo Cutler
Sterling Cross

Brian Ladd - Guitar, programming

  1. Material World (4:20)
  2. Chains of Love (3:32)
  3. Word (4:25)
  4. Double 0 777 (10:26)
  5. Journey to the Son (21:44)
  6. Finale (8:17)
2017 bonus tracks
  1. Material World (Live in Leipzig 25.05.2015)
  2. Chains of Love (Live in Leipzig 25.05.2015)

The Gospel According to the Men in Black (split)

1991 Minus Habens Records (MHR 007)

  1. Nightmare Lodge - Ice Skin #1
  2. Nightmare Lodge - Ice Skin #2
  3. Nightmare Lodge - Ice Skin #3
  4. Nightmare Lodge - Ice Skin #4
  5. Blackhouse - The Gospel According to the Men in Black

Hidden Beneath the Metal

1991 Ladd-Frith (LF 77)
1996 Discordia (DISC 067)

Sterling Cross - Voice, sound module, percussion
Ivo Cutler - Voice, sampler, radio, chair, effects

Brian Ladd - Untuned guest guitar, mega-mix

  1. Hidden Beneath the Metal A
  2. Hidden Beneath the Metal B
1996 re-issue bonus tracks
  1. Blackhouse Hum (3:16)
  2. Long Live Life (3:54)
  3. Dog (3:33)
  4. Anti-Hell (3:18)
  5. One Nation Under God (3:16)
  6. 7 Years (4:10)
  7. 4 x 4 (2:49)
  8. Halo Trance (6:59)
  9. Metal (3:16)
  10. Journey to the Son (5:01)

Re-mixed “Hidden Beneath The Metal” (original track was released on cassette in 1991) plus obscure & rare tracks from various compilations 1983-1996.


(to be continued)

blackhouse.txt · Last modified: 2020/08/28 01:33 by admin